A Man's guide to filling his belly, pickling his liver, and clouding his lungs in Nashville, Middle Tennessee, and parts beyond. "Because no man should settle for light beer, tofu, skim milk, or a restaurant best known for its grilled-chicken salad." Send all comments, questions, suggestions and threats to: NighSeenCreeder@aol.com

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Vive la reine du congélateur!

Folks who regularly read this blog know that one of my favorite things to eat is macaroni and cheese ... homemade macaroni and cheese. But homemade macaroni and cheese ain't easy to make, what with all the grating of cheese and stirring of sauces and cracking fresh black pepper. So when I want some quality macaroni and cheese but I don't want to do a lot of work, I'll cook up a pan of Freezer Queen® mac-n-cheese:

Now, I don't just pop that pan o' noodles 'n' cheese in the oven, let it cook the recommened 45-50 minutes and chow down. Oh, no. I fix it up a bit by taking it out of the oven after about 30 minutes; I toss in a quarter-stick of butter; then I pour in a good splash of milk; I add a heavy-helping of medium-grind black pepper; and I just stir the hell out of it all and shove it back into the oven to cook for another 15-20 minutes.

I'm firmly convinced that I could sell a whole lot of "fixed up" Freezer Queen mac-n-cheese in a restaurant and pass it off as "homemade." I could do it, and folks would love it, but I'd know in my heart that I was selling macaroni and cheese that wasn't as good as the Belmont Bi-Rite's macaroni and cheese.